Last year at Woodhull’s Sexual Freedom Summit, Screaming O recorded and released a video of convention attendees at a panel without their consent. They also falsely claimed they had sponsored the panel, which was full of untrue bullshit about body safe toys. Their behavior following the (justified) uproar was also shitty. They’re not a company to support, and I wish I’d heard of their garbage behavior before I purchased one of their toys.

I have seriously neglected my googling, y’all.

That being said, I’m not in a position to always be ethical in my consumerism; sometimes, I’m just going to have to go with a cheaper (body safe) toy from a shitty company. I’m not going to defend making that choice. But I will try, when I’m aware of a company’s garbage, to be honest about it, and link to sources condemning the behavior so you can make an educated decision based on both your morals and your budget.

So, the Vooom Rechargeable. A chubby little plastic bullet with a single button and ten settings (only three are steady, the rest are patterns) that is waterproof and, as the name suggests, rechargeable. It claims to be “powered by deep, rumbling Vooom technology” and it’s phrases like “vooom technology” that make me happy I got into reviewing sex toys. I wish I could buy a car with Vroom-Vroom tech, or a gaming computer that runs on Whrrr-Whrrr-Whrrr. I’m easily amused, but c’mon. It’s funny.

The Vooom came pre-charged and in pretty basic packaging. I was able to get it out with relative ease. It came only with a USB charge cord, no storage case – and the box itself isn’t ideal for stowing it away either. Considering its small size, you may want to find a dedicated place to stash it, because it’s already rolled its way under my mattress a few times.

I call it “chubby” because it definitely feels thick in my grip when I’m using it, at least when compared to its shortness. Looking at it sitting in my hand, it doesn’t seem all that thicker than any other small bullet I’ve seen. And yet… chubby. Maybe it’s the bluntly rounded tip.

On its base are two soft buttons; one is not an actual functioning button, it’s the circular spot where you puncture the toy with its cord to charge it. Yeah, it’s another one of those unnerving toys that close back up after you remove the cord so that it can remain waterproof. The Vooom’s settings are controlled with a single button, which means you have to cycle through every setting to return to a previous one you liked, and to turn the toy off you have to hold the button for several continuous seconds (you only need one short click to turn it on.) Since I hate patterns but love to turn the intensity up and down during use, I had to get used to turning the Vooom off in order to start back at the lowest setting, since I hated having to click ten times.

The Vooom is far from noisy (especially compared to the only other vibrator currently in use in our bedroom: the Magic Wand) and its buzzing its only really audible from under a blanket when on its highest setting (the third one.) If you’re a covert wanker, having to hold the button to turn the vibe off might make you nervous, but unless your interrupter has especially good ears, I don’t think the noise is obvious enough to warrant extra panic.

The vibrations are definitely strong. Substantially stronger than the couple of other bullets of this size I’ve encountered (usually tossed in as a bonus with other toys.) There’s unquestionably some of that promised rumble, though less so on the highest setting; in fact, it has a tendency to numb me before I can orgasm with it. There’s rumbling, but due in part to the vibe’s size, it doesn’t cover enough ground or penetrate more than skin-deep, so my clit often gets bored and then gets buzzed to sensationlessness. The Vooom’s rounded nose and location of its motor also makes it impossible to get truly pin point precision with the tip, so I can’t really make up for its lack of size by digging it directly against my clit. The rumbly vibrations are there, but they’re not spread out (or focused in) enough, nor deep enough, to get me anywhere with ease.

Its smaller size makes it useful to me in other ways, though. If my partner is on top of me, or I’m in a position with limited hand room around my crotch, the Vooom is definitely not going to get in the way. And with my thick labia and buried clit, I’m able to snuggle the Vooom against myself and use it hands-free, especially when I’m sitting up, because my labia holds it in place. I won’t get great orgasms out of it (or at least I haven’t so far), but the fact that it’s an option is exciting for the bondage-lover in me, since until now I’ve always needed at least one hand loose to manage my toys. That’s worth the price of admission alone.

The Vooom shines in another area, as well: replacing inferior bullets in dildos. It takes some extra wiggling due to its width, but I can fit it into the bottom of our Tantus Vibrating Vamp, replacing the much more modest Tantus bullet. It brings more power and more rumble, even with having to travel through the silicone. And because it’s waterproof, we can use the Vamp in the tub.

There’s also the fact that it’s rechargeable (not too common at this price point) and I’ll never lack a usable vibe between paydays again just because I ran out of batteries. It’s less wasteful, too.

I’ve seen it priced at $30-$40 on a few sites, but SheVibe has it for $26 and Peepshow Toys has it for $30. It’s definitely worth $26, if you want a small, rumbly-ish vibrator that’s waterproof and rechargeable – and you don’t care or can’t afford to care about the behavior of the company that produced it. I especially recommend it for rumble vibration newbies and folks looking to upgrade their dildo or harness’s lackluster bullet vibe (assuming the space has a little extra room to accommodate the Vooom’s width.) Because despite my complaints, I did go out of my way to score a second Vooom through a promotion Peepshow Toys was doing in January (free with $100 purchase), so I clearly like the thing.

Also, it comes in a cheerful, candy-like shade of blue (as well as black, pink, and purple.) Who doesn’t love blue?

I purchased the Vooom with my own money. Affiliate links were used in this post.